The present invention relates to a new and distinct Catharanthus plant, botanically known as Catharanthus roseus and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Sunnichiroin’.
The new Catharanthus plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventors in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan. The objective of the breeding program is to develop new freely branching and flowering Catharanthus plants with trailing plant habit and attractive and unique flower coloration.
The new Catharanthus plant originated from a cross-pollination conducted by the Inventors in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan in June, 2006 of a proprietary selection of Catharanthus roseus identified as code number Casp7-1, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Catharanthus roseus identified as code number 03-22-4, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Catharanthus plant was discovered and selected by the Inventors as a single flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled greenhouse environment in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan in March, 2007.
Asexual reproduction of the new Catharanthus plant by vegetative cuttings in a controlled greenhouse environment in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan since April, 2007, has shown that the unique features of this new Catharanthus plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.